Themed “Changing Geopolitics and Impacts on Non-Traditional Security Challenges in the Asia-Pacific”, the 7th NTS-Asia Annual Conference took place from 8 to 9 May 2025. The event, organised by the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS), brought together NTS-Asia members and experts across the region for a fruitful discussion on the topic, exploring effective policies to respond to these pressing challenges.
Professor Mely Caballero-Anthony, Associate Dean (International Engagement), Head of NTS Centre, RSIS; kickstarted the conference with welcome remarks, while Mr Warren Fernandez, Senior Fellow, Head of National Security Studies Programme and Editor, RSIS; delivered the opening address.
The first panel on “Rethinking Security in a Shifting World Order,” discussed the conceptual foundations of NTS within International Relations and examined how great power rivalry reshapes multilateral approaches to address NTS challenges. The second panel on climate, food, and economic security examined the sectoral implications of geopolitical shifts at the intersection of climate change, food security and environmental resilience in South and Southeast Asia. With the theme of “Community Resilience and Resource Distribution in the Asia-Pacific,” the third panel examined various vulnerabilities facing the region – ranging from the threats posed to urban resilience and refugees arising from conflict areas to the new geopolitics of critical minerals – and discussed how geopolitical tensions are affecting resource distribution and placing new strains on inclusive development, regional stability, and long-term community resilience. The final panel on Digitalisation, Peacebuilding, and Human Security, adopted an interdisciplinary approach to unpack how communities and institutions across the Asia-Pacific are adapting to the interplay between geopolitical changes and digital activism, strategic autonomy and peacebuilding through the lenses of gender and public health management.
At the end of the conference, NTS-Asia consortium members and overseas participants discussed the future steps of collaboration and engagement. All participants benefitted from the rich exchange of perspectives on the impacts of geopolitics on NTS issues, the intersections between non-traditional and traditional security, the need to develop adaptive and multisectoral approaches to address NTS threats, and to bolster regional and inter-state cooperation.
For more information on this conference and the NTS-Asia consortium, click here for the NTS-Asia website.
